The invention relates to a multipole stator for an electrical machine which includes an excitation winding assembled of a plurality of compound coil members arranged around respective poles of the stator. Each coil member includes a main winding element and a shunt winding element. In such a four-pole stator, the four individual windings are in each case wound separately as four main windings and four shunt windings. One main winding and one shunt winding are then, in each case, assembled to form a combined winding member. The combined windings are held together by a winding tape, which is applied in most cases manually. In subsequent operations, the ends of the windings are connected to form an excitation winding. The ends are prepared by laying, insulating, combining and providing them with contact parts for the voltage connection before the combined windings are bent into shape adapted to an inside diameter of a pole housing. The ends are connected to form the excitation winding as a coil body. The connected joints must then still be insulated, and the excitation winding must be impregnated before it is mounted in the pole housing. Such an exciter winding has the disadvantage of not being able to be produced by an automated process and is, thus, too expensive, especially for mass production.